First Niagara Bank — Terrible bank

I had my banking accounts with a local bank for years without a single problem until several years ago these rip-off artist came in our towns and bought out all the banks. Now we have Niagara Bank, NBT Bank, Bank America, and Citizens! All big banks with big dreams of screwing the public over and becoming the BIGGEST! I had a balance of $116 in my account when I noticed I had sent out all my bills but forgot to deposit my check. Keep in mind, the bank gives every single person that walks through their door a $500 overdraft protection!

The next day I go to the post office and I have several overdraft notices each for $30! My online bank payments came to $530! When I went to school $500 over draft protection plus $116 account balance came to $616! Someone tell me if my addition is incorrect please???

Needless to say, these crooks took all of my account balance as fees and then turned off my message communication line so I could not dispute the issue! I am closing my account with these money thieves and taking my business to the credit union! Not only have I had better experiences with credit unions in general, these 'BIG BANKERS-LIKE THE FOUR I MENTIONED ABOVE (and by the way there are many more) HATE CREDIT UNIONS!!! My suggestion to folks is STAY CLEAR OF THE MEGA BANKS. THEY'RE WALL ST IN DISGUISE--RIPPING OFF THE POOR!!!

The credit unions are much more customer friendly and I'll guarantee you they will give you your loan request over the MEGA BANKS any day! MEGA BANKS are for the 'millionaires and billionaires' and they are not interested in you and I other than our money! (just to make their corrupt port folios look better than they really are) Just look at California just several weeks ago with the MEGA BANKS!!

I also believe you should not keep all of your eggs in one basket! Self explanatory! And keep in mind these MEGA BANKS are still making the 25% and 30% plus interest rates and giving you 2%-3%! How's that for GREED!!! My savings is not in banks at that rate! They are not in Wall St either because they're more corrupt than the banks!

Hope this sheds some insight for folks before you end up like the folks in the 30's depression! We are already there just the government is giving us a line of 'BS' as always!

Responses

I had made a deposit through an ATM in the early evening to cover a check that was due. The next day, I see a $33.00 nsf fee and the check on my account, but no deposit. When I called First Niagara Bank, I was told that, when I made the deposit, I didn't deposit to my account but to the ATM and they don't open the ATM's until noon. Well if I make a withdrawal, then why is this hitting my account immediately, when technically, I'm making a withdrawal from the ATM and not my account!! So shouldn't these also not hit until they 'open' the ATM. What a ripoff. I am going to file a formal complaint against this bank. If this was National City, the deposit would have been there.

These banks are horrible! They are making security questions up on their online-faulty service that is WRONG! They are miserable! They send you these pin numbers through the mail that do not even work, have to fight with them on my lunch break to correct the problem. YOU CANNOT CHECK YOUR ACCOUNT OVER THE PHONE WHY DO I HAVE TO WAIT 9-4 TO TALK TO SOMEONE! I have PNC, and they may not be the "best", but they sure are a hell of a lot better. I have my business accounts with First Niagara, and I promise you I am taking all of my money out. I tried to make a purchase online through my business account, and it will not go through! I have over 6k in there!!! I am livid...as far as banks go F-

I'll admit I've had some issues similar to those above but everything has been taken care of and the people at my local First Niagara branch are wonderful and really care about their customers. They were National City and are going through a big change that they didn't ask for either.. Don't waste your time waiting to get someone on the phone at an 800 number, call or go in person to your local bank and let them know any issues you're having.. if they are as helpful as my branch, they will take care of everything! I'm just glad my bank isn't being run by the government.. Good luck everyone!

First Niagra Bank is at best a mediocre bank. If you ask a question or try to get clarification you get multiple answers. No one tries to make an effort to get back to you or help you. You are left to fend for yourself and troubleshoot your own problems. The local former National City branches are sometimes just as misinformed although they try to smooth things over. Those of us unfortunate enough to have been divested to First Niagra definitley got the short end of the stick. Sad to say, I am shopping for another bank

First Niagra is without a doubt the most incompetent Bank I have ever dealt with. The transition from Nation City to First Niagra could have been smoother if monkeys were handling. My business acct. is with them now and they had wrong address which meant my card did not work anywhere! The access codes they gave would not work! When I called customer service they could not figure out how to rectify any of the problems and would just say they are sorry. The local branches here in Pittsburgh were tried to the point they had become ignorant and condecending to the customers where I over heard a teller inform a customer to "take their banking somewhere else". WTF !!! What happened to local friendly banking where you enjoyed your trip to the bank as to now you wish bad on all who is involved. Best case scenerio is that First Niagra leaves as fast as they came to Pittsburgh!!! We are a city of friendly helpful people and they have no business being here. I am hopeful PNC will acquire all the branches and First Niagra can go back to NY and crawl back under the rock they came out from under. I have notified all my associates and employees to get out of the bank immediately. Any employee under contract with me who does ANY business with First Niagra will be terminated on site. And yes I can do that as they sign contracts that state termination for any or no reason whatsoever!!! Sincerely distraught former Nation City Customer!!!

First Niagara bought out a bank called Cortland Savings a number of years ago. From there it went downhill. Unfortunately I got unkowingly caught up in a scam and First Niagara wanted to make a repayment agreement. I made a very reasonable offer and they counter offered an extremely (and impossible for me) offer, well knowing I could not meet it. When I said so, they ceased negotiations and turned it over to their dirtbag lawyers Bulan, Chiari Horwitz and Ilecki. They filed a suit against me, tacked on a high interest rate and even got a judge in Auburn, NY to add stupid civil penalties and other ridiculous fees, sending me a subpoena which he endorsed, threatening me with jail if I didn't comply. I am already living in poverty, never having been able to recover from losing a terrific job after 9/11, with a family to support and all these ###s chase after me like I'm a murderer.

First Niagara, their attorneys and the court system are corrupt, plain and simple. Anyone who has an account with them, behave, because they and their lawyers (who pay off judges) will bend you over and ram you hard if you don't.

First Niagara is an institution that was designed with one thing in mind... ripping people off and only tailoring to suit the needs of the rich. they pay high proce lawyers to run poor people into the ground and pay off judges so that the judge will sign unjust forms to sue poor people. ### the judges, ### the lawyers, ### First Niagara Bank, mother###ing ###s, ALL OF YOU!!!

WOW! I have so many little words to make up the letter of FNFG it isn't even funny. Let me say, I do personally work at a "big bank" (one of the top 5 in the US). However, I choose to have my finances separate from where I work, and although I LOVE where I work and recommend it highly to anyone, I think it best I keep a small amout there and the remainder elsewhere. Well. Freaking Nasty Filthy Greeds bought my small bank. I can't believe the crap I am seeing! The money they charge is a scam! I am hoping my bank takes them over soon! I don't have a ton of money in my account with them (actually it's $0 now as I have no interest in doing business with them), but when I did I wasn't living large, but quite comfortably. As soon as they took over my small bank I just loved, they began hitting me with fees I have never heard of!
I am livid. Oh, and on another note - why in the world do they impact their customers during a work week, when other banks that buy do it during a weekend? Stay FAR FAR away from Finally No Friggin Good!

I'm pissed off at First Niagara, six weeks ago I deposited my check through the ATM like I have for the past 8 years or so and it never posted to my account... Talked to a nice lady at customer service and it was taken care of quick enough after I called the bank on Monday morning and was told they had to pull all the paper work for that day and my check was deposited within hours (they pull all deposits from machine and deposit them manually?) I can understand going through the deposits and checking them for accuracy but with National City the deposits were done through the ATM and you had funds available from the deposit you just made...Not any more. Last night I went to the ATM, deposited my check and my slip said I only had and x amount of funds available (well below what I should have had). I run home get online and check my account and sure enough my last deposit wasn't showing...WTF???????????? COME ON!! Twice within two months?? Now I have to leave work early and take care of this, but this time I'm not going to be so nice!

The problem here is that the employees at First Niagra are trained to provide great customer service to those individuals and businesses that have very large amounts of money and good economic standing. They are trained to treat the average personal banker poorly in an effort to make you go away. The average person living paycheck to paycheck and keeping an average balance below $100 is what they call a "cash cow". They know that you are struggling, and they are set up to take advantage of that. For example... they will deliberately hold a deposit that comes in the same day as a check or atm withdrawal to force your account into overdrawn status, so that they can charge you fees. And they will continue to compound those fees over and over again. They essentially beat you into submission until you either put a huge sum of money into your account to cover the fees, or close your account.
Oh, and good luck trying to dispute those fees... it is a nightmare that I would not wish upon anyone.
They are not a bank that caters to the average personal banker. They swooped into the Lehigh Valley area and bought up many of the good hometown banks. Now we are left with a bunch of corporate fee suckers.

You have NO IDEA what you are taking about. You pretend as if you know the interworkings of a financial institution. The fact is, First Niagara, and every bank for that matter, give you, the customer, every opportunity to avoid fees. I'd ask anyone that ever received an overdraft fee in their life, "do you keep a register, do you know your bank's Funds Availability Policy?" More than likely, the answer to both of those questions is, NO! This is YOUR mistake, not First Niagara's.

Your first problem is you have no idea how the overdraft privilege works. It is Overdraft, "Privilege" NOT "Protection", two very different things. Most checking accounts come with an overdraft privilege, and you always have the option of opting out of this service. Yes, it is in place for Financial Institutions to make money, Fee Income is part of the annual revenue. The are a business, and could not survive without making money. However, they do not force you to overdraw your account, and they provide you with tools to keep you from having this happen (Checkbook registers, online banking, ATM balance inquiries, 1-800 numbers).

You second problem is not knowing how the fee structure works. Once you overdraw your account, you will incur a fee, $30 in this case. Each transaction that clears after that also incurs a $30 fee, up to the $500 Overdraft Privilege. This is where most confusion takes place. I think you are assuming that if you try to have multiple transactions clear, totaling $530 that you are not including the Overdraft Fee after each of these come through the account. Lucky for people that do not keep track of their money, you can only incur 5 overdraft fees a day.

A separate issue is that fact that you think that you are justified in what you did with your account. In actuality, YOU BROKE THE LAW. It is illegal to pay bills, write checks, or swipe your debit card, if you do not actually have the funds to cover it. This is a CHECKING account not a CREDIT CARD.

this bank ###in sucks! I just checked my account and they debited my account two times for two different transactions. Then I signed up for the auto bill pay and should receive $25 exstra from them in my checking account and these brainiacs have it as a "withdrawal"...are you kidding me?! Now I have to call tomorrow and flip out... I think I will present myself in a ghetto fashion in the branch up the street! . And thanks for crediting one of the transactions back into my account, but that money will not even be available for two days now! So you make the mistake and take the money out twice and then say "Oooops, here goes your money back but you can't use it for a couple more days when it actually credits back to your account." What if I needed that money tonight or tomorrow?! I'm pissed and I'm not letting this go. It needs to be fixed ASAP. I already sent them an e-mail. WORST BANK I EVER DELT WITH. fukkers

First Niagara are only interested on those people who have x amount of money in their account, I work for them & you have to see the type of fees that we have waived that we shouldn't have just because of the amount of money on the customer's account; & perhaps in other not so huge account they will waive one fee & mark their account with a red flag not to waive any more fees for this customers. Unfortunately in the world that we are living the wealthy are only getting wealthier and the poor are best buried underground. It is incredible how they don't even feel any sympathy for the older folks who are retired living of off social security, no especial treatment for them & of course no waived fee because they say they are not worth it because it wouldn't make a difference if they took their business elsewhere. First Niagara is only in this game to grow & get bigger as a bank because they also treat their employees like crap, because they fail to promote from within and giving many of the tellers an opportunity to advance.

It is hilarious to see the bank sending the monthly congratulation notes on the employees that have more than 5 years in the company & its hilarious to see a teller working the same position for 25 years its like come on unless they reach the maximum in that pay level they would never get promoted. First Niagara should start thinking more about the customers and satisfying their needs no matter how big their account is, because there are many factors that need to taken into consideration such as the length of years the customer has bank with them.

For being a smaller bank, Harleysville was great. I could check my online banking statement seconds after I made a purchase and it would show on my account. Depositing checks was a breeze. They were prompt to issue a new card when mine would no longer swipe at a card reader/ATM. My new cards always came on time when my current ones were ready to expire. It was easy to get a real human being on the phone when I had questions. No issues with Harleysville. I recently moved to New York and have had nothing but problems when Harleysville became First Niagara. They want to hold checks for 48 hours until a $100 amount clears? They issued me a new debit card and changed my pin number. What a pain in the butt trying to remember a new stupid 4-digit number when I've used the same one for the past 6 years. They recently placed a hold on my debit account for a purchase I made in NJ - when I've been using the card for the last month in NY - deemed as fraudulent. They also never notified me of this and even after I spoke to a rep in the fraud department at Prism and the hold was "released" I still can't use the damn card. Moreover, the "fraudulent purchase" was removed from my accoutn without my concent. Good thing I wasn't making any important purchases. The bank also has no record of ANY purchases made with my new First Niagara debit card, only from my old Harleysville card. Awesome. Needless to say, I would have been closing all of my accounts associated with First Niagara and moving all my funds to a bank in NY, but these recent issues are the straw that broke the camel's back. I will be switching much sooner.

I recently went to the Pittsburgh First Niagra Pavillion for the Mayhem Tour in July, i saw a booth where if u apply for a credit card for First Niagra Bank u got to choose 2 tickets to either Journey or Def Leppard for just applying, so i said ok why not, i choose Def Leppard and she wrote it on the top of my application, guess what? i never saw no Def Lepperd tickets, its a bunch of ###

Oh my god, this bank is a rip off, I agree with most of the comments previously mentioned. They only are out to get your money, I recently deposited money through an ATM, because had some auto withdrawals the next day and am in the process of closing my account because of other issues with the bank. They purposely put through the withdrawals prior to the deposit so account would overdraft and then put the deposit through and then charged a $35.00 bank fee. I have an account through TD Bank and another through People's bank, I have never had any issues with either of those banks. I would recommend for all First Niagara bank customers to switch soon before they find a way to take your money as well. Any other banks is better than First Niagara Bank!!!

First Niagara bankers are some of the filthiest ### on Earth. I banked at the same location for 20 years until these loathsome pigs took over. They rearrange debits and credits to intentionally overdraw accounts so they can soak the working poor with overdraft fees. I hope the First Niagara executives and board members all contract cancer and die slow, horrible, agonizing, and painful deaths.

Whythelongfeces...I'm glad you're curious. Curiosity is a trait not normally associated with the "banking classes". FYI, I don't spend more than I have in my account. If I check my balance in the morning, and it's positive, then visit a branch office and deposit CASH into my account to cover a debit that is coming in later that day, the account will not be overdrawn at a normal bank. Rearranging credits and debits is a well known scam practiced by sleazy banks. Listen up, NOT ALL BANKS clear LARGEST to SMALLEST. ALL OF THEM DON'T DO IT. This bank didn't do it until First Niagara raised their ugly head and took over. And, my new bank doesn't do it. LISTEN UP: THEY DON'T ALL DO IT. ONLY THE UNSCRUPULOUS BANKERS DO IT, despite what apologist ringers say.

"I have been banking for 28 years..." Congratulations. Have you also been working at First Niagara that long? I've been banking for 50 years, and I've had a few overdrafts during that time that were my fault. But, at all of the other normal banks I was able to walk in and deposit CASH which was immediately credited by my account. "YOU are spending MONEY you do NOT have. Put the money in FIRST, then spend it. And YES, it will be an overdraft at EVERY bank if you do it that way BECAUSE pending transactions are not cleared transactions." That's correct (except for the part about "at EVERY bank"). Deposit CASH in the morning, then a debit comes in in the afternoon, and they clear the debit first, BEFORE THE CASH DEPOSIT. That's a trick designed to squeeze money our of their "customers", mostly the working poor, and all banks don't do it, only the bad ones. Advice: Join a credit union.

Recently opened an account for a business, previously used citizens and boa, never had a problem with either. First niagara tellers have demanded everything be done strictly for their convenience. It is a major process to get a change order from them. Preparing a deposit now takes us an additional half an hour because of the odd and specific way they want it done. And they act as though it is normal. Have banked with many other institutions for various companies over the years and have always been treated as a customer should. Now I am treated like a pig every time I go there. Also get calls from them twice a week about my deposits. Quite frankly it would be much quicker if I worked there part time and processed my own deposits!

as for the hsbc accounts conversion since 1st united purchased those local branches... in my humble opinion and experience - it has been nothing but problems, mistakes, BS, lost papers, poor direction and misinformed employees who really can't help you at the local branches. Call their 800 help line - Allot of double speak, or they're just not there when you need them, or you are on hold ( last time for 23 minutes) - I can't wait to pull out my transitioned accounts and open them up at a much more professional establishment that cares about their customers. 2 weeks with this bank has caused more problems with work and the hours needed to correct their mistakes and work with disgruntled clients of mine, who are looking for their missing checks sent out through 1st Niagara's Internet banking. My advice: run as fast as you can away from 1st Niagara.

This bank is the worst bank that I've ever dealt with. You cannot log in to their website. They told me that there are issues on their website..that was 2 months ago and it is no better today. I can't get in to get my statements. I finally closed all my accounts in Cicero. They gave me all my money but never closed the accounts. They sent me a $35. fee for what they say was a bounced check. Upon further review there was no bounced check. They did reverse the fee. Ive changed my address with them numerous times and they continue to send to my old address. Talking with other people I found that I'm not the only one that they are doing these things to. I am SOO glad to be out of that bank!!

I'm furious with First Niagara here I pay my bills one week ahead of time and they are stating I never did even with receipt and cashed checks in hand. So someone is cashing in our our pain and suffering now I have to most likely head to the police station to file a complaint and also file it with the attorney generals office on the day of my daughters 4th birthday. Plus the possibility that who ever has my money could now even have my identity. If this is not fully straightened out I will be contacting an attorney as well. Even on the darn receipt has the tellers ID number so the dumb idiot left a trail but First Niagara defends and now my credit is hosed.

First Niagara Bank synonymously means CHRONIC MIGRAINE! I was a Happy HSBC'er for years, until First Niagara bought them out in May 2012 making Filthy Niagara my default bank. DISCLAIMER: They will kill you, statement by statement with subtle 'service fee's.' Since I haven't lived in a State near them for five months now, and I can't cancel my account until I go home for the Holidays. No wonder they have to buy banks out to get customers!!!

This bank Sucks! We unfortanately made the deecision to sell our house to a nice young couple looking to mortgage through First Niagra Banks First Time Homebuyers Program. HMMMMM YEAAAAAA! What a f-ing bad decision that was. The buyers were pre-approved prio to making an offer. The house was under contract in Sept. All inspections were taken care of with no issues. Closing was set for the week of Thankgiving. Seemed like business as usual. Well the bank sent one piece of communication out sying they needed another 30 days and nothing was wrong with the buyer - they are still approved with no issues. Well here it is in January and we still do not even have a closing date. We have repeatedly tried to contact them through our lawyer and they can not even return phone calls. Talk about piss poor customer service. If we do not get some answers soon we are going to pull the plug on this and sue them! They are taking well above and beyond any reasonable amount of time to close this transaction (4 months) and First Niagara can not and does not communicate anything or commit to anything. If you are selling a house and someone comes in pre-approved by First Niagara Bank - Run Like Hell and say No! Get Lost!

First Niagara bank stole $100.00 from me on 01/07/2013 using the ATM @ the Lyell & Plymouth av location in Rochester, NY.
I was making a CASH deposit via the ATM, after the machine took my money then it just simply shut down with no acknowledgment of my deposit or a receipt.
As I was leaving I saw a teller at the drive through window, I stopped & shouted at the window, the teller did acknowledge me, I told her what had happened, she calmly said "just give it a couple hours and check your account on line and I'm sure that you will see it credited" I asked don't you think you should shut the ATM down? She said NO I have a green light and it is working fine. This was at 4:45 PM, as of 8:38 PM no deposit has shown up in my account.
I will get even with these crooks, mark my words

Now there is a new rule for checking. If you don't use your debit card so many times per month they charge you a fee. I believe this is in violation of the good faith law because the primary objective was a free checking account. Was "free checking". RIP OFF !!!

On 01/11/2013 First Niagara bank did credit my checking account for the $100.00 deposit that I made on 01/07/2013, being a fair & honest person I did feel I needed to post this update. They did make me sweat it out, but they did fix it.
Markcoby98

The defenders of First Niagara are wrong and these complainers are correct, which I know from personal experience as a customer. I deposited a loan payment on a Saturday morning before a holiday, knowing, as the bank had assured me, that the deposit would post on Tuesday -- the day of the automated debit for the loan. However, unlike at other banks, the debit was processed before the deposit -- even though the latter was made three days before -- in order for me to incur the insulting $30 fee for insufficient funds plus a fee for supposedly being late in making the payment. I pointed out that I was not late, but the bank itself, and was able to get my branch manager to waive one of the fees, but not both, which still left me feeling victimized. It is not necessary for a bank to treat its good customers who have not done anything wrong this poorly by playing "gotcha" with fees.

during there take over of hsbc bank, and selling other banks due to the monopoly they caused in some towns!!

my accounts were sold to a bank NOT of my choosing!!!
all my credit cards were cancelled.
All of my direct pays were cancelled
and i had no access to my money and did not know where it was !! that's steeling!
They said, days later when i found out where my money was that FNB sent me a letter that all my accounts were being transferred

I pay FNB over 70 thousand dollars a year for business insurance, i was a business depositor, i have all my personal banking with them . I was in the bank three days before the switch to get a new debit card (that was turned off three days after i got it, and on that Friday of turn off! i was heading out of town to see my dying Mother!! I had no money no credit cards and did not know were my money was!!! how can a bank do this with just a lost letter in the mail, it is my money and i entrust them to keep me in the loop!!! this kind of transaction should be signed off personally by me!!! i hope someday someone takes all there personal accounts and and gives them to a bank they don't want to deal with, and get the response oh were sorry i thought you would have gotten the letter, AGAIN HOW CAN A BANK DO THIS!!!

First Niagara is very crafty at taking your money in way of banking fees. Their algorithms will take drain every penny from your account and before you know it you'll owe them hundreds of dollars in unearned bank fees. I am so glad to switch my personal and business accounts from this company to a reputable bank in New England and NY.

employees get treated like crap. If a rep has to ask a supervisor a question, your gonna be on hold a little while. Why? Because while the rep is asking his or her boss, the boss is too busy have a side conversation with another boss telling them what they did the night before...and forget about talking to mortgage or loan servicing. It's a "back" office and they don't take customer calls. A rep from Albany gave me the # for loan servicing- 1-877-932-3422 and told me that ten dollars an hour wasn't worth relaying messages from them. Have a loan question- call mortgage/loan servicing directly.

As a former employee of National City and FNB, I MISS NATIONAL CITY! I am A customer of FNB and I have to say the system that they use sucks. I mean it is STONE AGE!! PNC bought national cities system that was far far more advanced. I am finally switching all 4 of my accounts to a credit union. I have had enough. I deposited checks through an atm on a Thursday evening and they did not show up on my account until Tuesday morning (not a holiday weekend). Being that I am a former employee, I do know the business practice of banks. The checks were from the same state and should have been available the next business day. Even if it would have been Monday. I am so tired of these check holds on checks from the SAME STATE. Checks are processed electronically and should never take that long. and the overdraft PROTECTION is a joke. They will pay the check up to $500 and charge ridiculous amounts of money. that is not protection. Protection is a signature line of credit that is attached to your account. It pulls funds when you overdraft and you get charged $5. When FNB took over they got rid of that protection. Now how is that helping the customer! I left FNB because of the stone age system to process anything including deposits and loans and the oh-well attitude when the takeover that lost so many people accounts and put so much stress on the in branch personal. GET WITH TECHOLOGY!

I have had nothing but problems with them since I was given an auto loan with them through my purchase of a car from Honda. I had to jump through hoops just to pay my loan either by phone or by internet. Also, they charge a fee to pay by phone. They have screwed up my internet payment three times out of six. Charged me a late fee when I paid on time. I called them because my next statement shows a late fee but the person on the phone doesn't see the late charge. I'm looking at it on my statement. Their statements are not clearly presented either. When I have called them, I am put on hold about eight minutes each time and once, just dropped. How convenient. Once, I paid two payments and they credited all towards the present payment and then said I didn't pay the most current payment plus charged me a late fee. I am so, so, over them. I never experienced a bank that I have had the misfortune of dealing with in my life! I have never had problems with payments like this. It's inexcusable! I am leaving them for another bank who will give me a whole percent less. So, I called and told rep I needed a payoff note faxed to my financial institution. The guy says okay, it will be done within 24 hours. Oh, I also said, don't you need my loan number to do this? Oh, yes he says, that will help me identify your account better. That was last Tuesday. On that Friday, my bank called to say they never received the payoff letter. I called First Niagara yesterday, the following Monday. . . Oh, we can't fax a payoff to another financial institution. Why didn't the guy tell me that last Tuesday, I asked? Oh, sorry, I am told. So, a week later I don't have this. So I am told, I can sign an authorization and have my bank fax that to them, and then they would process my request to fax a response within 48 hours of the request. Or, they can send a copy to some branch, within 48 hours, to some branch in my area and I have to go there to get it or they can mail it to me. I asked it be mailed to me. I said maybe they should retrain the associate who I spoke to the first time. This girl apologized but gave excuses as to why he didn't tell me "their rules" a week before. There is more but.. anyway, I want to refinance with my user friendly bank and ditch these so called bankers as soon as I possibly can. Let's see how long it takes them to send me my payoff letter by mail. Also, this girl said the payoff letter they send me is only valid for ten days, so since I sent them my original request on the 13th, that this payoff letter they will send me expires on July 23. Hold it. They never responded to my July 13 request but now, this payoff letter they are going to put in the mail, within 48 hours of today, July 18, is going to expire on July 23???? I most likely will not receive it by July 23, in the mail, and it will have already expired??? I had to say, well since you never sent the first request, can't you make the new ten day expiration date ten days from today's phone call, which would be ten days from July 18??? Even, that is not fair because she told me my request could not be processed for another 48 hours. Wow! I have not had any good experiences with this bank and can not wait until I am finally separated from them. NEVER will recommend them and NEVER will deal with them again.

Not only run, but RUN FAST!!! I just opened 2 business accounts with First Niagara. Each question I had was met with several phone calls being made to ask other branches, managers, and they even had to ask other staff. Wanting to change our checking also, I found their overdraft protection consisted of a 35.00 fee that could be paid through "their credit card." (ARE THEY SERIOUS)? We opted out and proceeded to the teller to cash two small checks, only to find that we could not cash them as my company was a corporation not an LLC???? I immediately closed both business accounts and was CHARGED 25.00 to close 2 accounts that I received absolutely no service at all for!! Oh, did I forget to mention that the checks I ordered for the business accounts were not mailed? This was due to a bank person leaving me a phone message stating, "the checks that I ordered were expensive, " and she would wait my call to see if I wanted the cheaper ones. Seriously? Are they kidding? I will never bank at the First Niagara. When they can charge for closing accounts and performing no service, in my opinion, they've got a good thing going, robbery without a gun!!!

This is the worst bank I have ever dealt with. Niagara bought out one of the local banks I used. I have been in a financial nightmare ever since. It seems not to matter whether I have 1.00 in my checking or 6000.00 they hold my checks until they can collect a fee. The on-line banking was a other nightmare. I had more trouble trying to get into my account and then they penalized me. After time n my local branch and on the phone they took off some of the fees and repeatedly claimed " glitch" in the system and admitted their people were not trained. Meanwhile my bills have all since been paid late and I am charged a fee from them. I have never in my 25 years banking experienced this. Where I was once working and paying my bill and getting by, am now one pay away from living on the street with my four kids. I have not had a decent nights sleep worrying what is going on with my on line banking and If i will be OK. I also have lost many lunch breaks trying to call them to straighten things out.